Towels: Accetable towel substitutes for long-term use?

[Vanilla eXe]

I'm working on making 7 sets of bedding (so I only have to use the washing machine every 6th day for my piggies...less wasteful then every two days.) Are there any acceptable fabric substitutes for towel that I could get at the fabric store when I buy fleece? I think it would be cheaper that way as towels are pretty expensive. My plan is to sew the new fleeces into a kind of pillowcase that covers the cage, that way they don't poop between the layers like they're doing now.

[Aquena]

I think you have a good idea in making additional sets of bedding and sewing the sides together - which will also make it easier to lay it down and smooth.

Do you have a dollar store or some discount store that sells cheap towels? But thick towels do seem to work better.

I have wondered if many layers of fleece would work the same as towels?

[Vanilla eXe]

Thanks, I figured it would be a good idea since I change their fleece every few days and I only have one set for now. If I had 7 sets, they could have fresh fleece everyday without me wasting water and electricity in the washer everyday.

I don't think extra fleece will work, from what everyone says, it doesn't absorb well but it passes the moisture on well. We have a 'dollar tree' but I've never seen towels there. Thank you for the suggestion though!

[Paula]

You can also find good deals on towels at thrift stores. And instead of towels you can use mattress pads, old blankets, anything that's absorbent, really.

[Vanilla eXe]

Thank you! By mattress pad, do you mean like those egg crate foam things, or something different? I never thought to check a thrift store for old towels.

[akstrohm]

You want a mattress pad that is absorbent. I wouldn't use foam.

[trump_cinnamon]

Kmart has really cheap towels.

[ferndalezoo]

Things you can get at a fabric store that will work:

Cotton or bamboo quilt batting (NOT the polyester kind). THis would need to be sandwiched between fleece and aomething lese, and quilted in though.

Terry Cloth (towel material) by the yard. You'd probably need 2 layers or so.

Birddseye (diaper fabric) or cotton flannel. You'd need to use several layers.

I am investigating making sets for my newly enlarged cage that are a layer of flece (on top), 2 layers of the batting, and either terry or flannel on the bottom (whatever is cheaper).

[madakri]

To me bigs fluffy towels work best as Aquena said. However I've also used old blankets or anything like it that absorbes well.

Recently, I started asking my neigbors, co-workers and friends for any old towels they don't use anymore. You know, like the vet's do.

I like your idea of sewing the layers together.

[rjramer06]

I found some super cheap towels at a Goodwill store today. We have 3 stores around us so I can always check from time to time to find more towels.

I recently tried to make a bedding with multiple layers sewn together. Just be careful that they don't bunch up on the inside. I had that happen and all 3 that I made were too small after 1 wash. They had all bunched up on the inside and there was no way to fix it without ripping them apart. I had to start fresh with everything, fleece and all. If your piggies are getting under the fleece, try putting some bricks in the corners.

[Vanilla eXe]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys! I think I will compare the prices of thriftstore towels and the materials mentioned from the fabric store.

@madakri and rljr: I'm not sewing all the layers together...more like a pillowcase. Three sides of the fleece sewn together with an opening to insert/remove the absorbent material, that way everything gets thoroughly cleaned in the wash without bunching up. I already made one today and I meant to add a flap to the open end so I can velcro it to the bottom, but I forgot.

[Ly&Pigs]

Mattress pads would be like the kind you put on your mattress to protect it. Although for use in cages, you don't want the waterproof type as it will defeat the purpose.

[gpeiw]

You can get mattress pads for use by incontinent people like this Washable Absorbent Bed Pad 85 x 135cms With Wings: Amazon.co.uk: Kitchen & Home and use them under fleece. I will be using one of these under my fleece when my cage setup is finished - I plan to have a mattress pad as the bottom layer and then have a fleece that is fited over the coroplast which will cover it - I will probably use velco to secure everything down to aid vacuuming. The one I have linked to absorbs 4 litres so should be fine for gps.

[Duffinvt]

I was surprised, when I asked my friends at Curves, many said they would love to give me towels. Some people buy new each year just to redecorate their baths and are happy to give away the old ones !

[fieryone]

I get both mattress pads (the kind that goes over the mattress like a sheet with the elastic cut off) and towels from the Goodwill/thrift store.

[SFailed186]

Right now, there are some great deals at several Wal-Mart stores (as I hear, and have seen). The towels are all $1, and they are equivalent to the size of a 2x3 and a 1/2. There are some colors, like Orange Spice (which is what we got) that are naturally lower prices because they are less appealing.

[TerryLynn]

Just wanted to add that I noticed at our Target Store that they have all their college stuff marked on clearance. They had the extra-long twin size mattress pads marked down to around $5. Might be a good place to check.

[maryanna50]

I use two layers of hospital blakents under my fleece in my girls cages and I only change it twice a week.

[princesspoppy]

Have a look at this post a while back. It may be of some use.
http://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/...seen-zorb.html

[charly2001]

The flannel that you would make cloth diapers from. I made some pads from it with 3 layers then stack to pads together to get 6 layers (sewing all six together was difficult for my machine). I am finding it super absorbent.

My next test is to sew the fleece to the top of one of the pads to make it easier to make their beds (my daughter calls it making their beds ) But want to buy new stuff to do this...I am not sure about the pigs, but I am sure getting tired of the pattern i have now.

A bonus with not sewing everything together is that is washes much better in the machine. I have a set i made with towels and it is all sewed together and it is quite large and thumps around the machine. The other set is spread more easily in the machine and i think gets a better wash.